montmorency sour cherry as house plant

Steve, Micro (6B ground, 5B roof)June 8, 2013

I am interested in growing a montmorency sour cherry as a houseplant. I would be growing it from seed. i have just picked the cherries and will be stratifying them for 3 months in my refrigerator. They will sprout in my refrigerator about september when I will have to plant them or they will die. My question is can I grow these tree indoor under CFL's all winter and next summer and into november without providing it the 800 hours chill they presumably need. to fruit. How long can I grow the trees with no cold weather. I would like to grow it as a houseplant till it is 8 feet tall at which time I will plant the tree out side and let nature do the rest. The cherry will get its winter chill and fruit the next year.

All my plants grow about 2 times faster in my growth chambers than they do out side in full summer sun. See pics

I place any of my potted trees on top of the can with the hole and use a vacuum cleaner to suck air through the 1 inch hole to draw fresh air through the roots of my trees. I do this once a day for a 10 second draw. I also do the same after a water soaking to draw off the excess water.

You know the amount of extracted water, because you empty the collection at some point.

All collected water started in the pot.

Different story for air, on both counts.

Ignoring air into vacuum that is drawn through gaps around hose,
and through junction between upper and lower vessels unless you sealed it,
we are interested in the air drawn from the pot;
all of wlhich I would say is drawn along inner surface of pot plus
a few millimeters inwards into medium,
unless roots are in something outrageously coarse.

When I water I submerge the whole 5 gallon container for 30 minutes . I let it drain for an hour, then I suck out the excess water. I'll get an extra gallon out. This pulls the water from around the circumference and the bottom surface as well. The real problem with stagnant soil will be between the container and the soil surface. Each day when I vacuum I dry out the surfaces the most but I still get fresh air into the root ball. The surfaces have a tight seal and the hole fits the vacuum's hose or nozzle diameter. I tried 2 different size holes for different attachments.

The picture show a tight seal for the vacuum hose in the hole and the tree fits perfectly on a smaller bucket. Notice the 200+ air holes in the side of the trees container so more are gets to the lower soggier soil. My trees grew better when I started aerating the roots.